Snowboarding at the Olympics turned 20 this year, and thereB次元官网网址檚 a good chance that in another two decades, people will still be talking about the contest that went down in the mountains of South Korea on Wednesday.
They will definitely still be talking about Shaun White.
It wasnB次元官网网址檛 so much that White won his third gold medal to place his name among the greatest to compete in the Olympics, or in any realm of sports, for that matter.
CouldnB次元官网网址檛 be happier to qualify first today! Tomorrow is the moment IB次元官网网址檝e been looking forward to for 4 years... LetB次元官网网址檚 do this馃挭馃徏
B次元官网网址� Shaun White (@shaunwhite)
It was the way he did it.
His winning run capped a contest that, even before he dropped in for the finale, was the best, in terms of pure difficulty, showmanship and guts that has ever been seen on a halfpipe.
It came with the heart-thumping pressure of knowing he had to land the most difficult run he ever attempted, or settle for silver.
It included back-to-back jumps, each with 1440 degrees of spin, that are, quite literally, death-defying. They were tricks White said afterward that he had never landed in succession B次元官网网址� not in practice and, of course, never in a contest.
B次元官网网址淚 knew I had it in me,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he fear was out of the door. IB次元官网网址檓 at the Olympics. I had to do it. IB次元官网网址檓 standing at the top, in my favourite position, with the pressure of the world and one run to go. Man, it brings out the best in me. IB次元官网网址檓 so glad thatB次元官网网址檚 a part of me as a competitor.B次元官网网址�
On the winning trip, White got the tough stuff out of the way early, dropping straight into the halfpipe, flying nearly 20 feet above it and whipping his body around twice while going head-over-heels two times for the first 1440. He landed high enough on the wall to gather sufficient speed to travel to the other side and essentially do a mirror image of the first trick.
From there, it was simply a matter of staying upright.
He performed whatB次元官网网址檚 known as the Sky Hook B次元官网网址� a 20-foot vault above the deck in which he bent himself into the shape of a comma, while grabbing the board and tweaking it up toward his backside to show judges the style they demand. His final trick was one he patented: the Double McTwist 1260, in which he took off from the wall for two flips with 1 1/2 twists, grabbing the board and practically wrestling it over his head to complete the jump and stick the landing.
He knew heB次元官网网址檇 done it, but the wait B次元官网网址� about 120 seconds B次元官网网址� was agonizing.
B次元官网网址淚 was trying not to make eye-contact with the judges,B次元官网网址� White said.
The score came up. A 97.75. It was enough to beat Ayumu Hirano, the 5-foot-2, 19-year-old from Japan who has been asked , quite often, exactly when he was going to beat Shaun White.
Australian Scotty James, who made news at the start of the games by complaining about judging, finished third with a run that included three double-cork 1260s; it was a performance that wouldB次元官网网址檝e won all but a handful of all the contests ever held up through last December.
But it was Hirano, who now has back-to-back Olympic silvers, who set the stakes for these games by becoming the first man to land the back-to-back 14s at the Winter X Games last month. He did it again on his second run under a slate-grey sky in Pyeongchang to set the mark (95.25) that White would have to beat.
White did it.
Shortly after his winning score came up to make him the winner of AmericaB次元官网网址檚 100th Winter Games gold medal, White was hugging friends and family and sobbing, almost uncontrollably. It was the sort of emotion rarely seen from the man who burst onto the scene as the ebullient redhead shredder dude, then grew into a multi-platform megastar whose light cascades well beyond any halfpipe.
White would be the first to admit that a lot of that fame came because of the Olympics. So the win wasnB次元官网网址檛 so hard to put into perspective.
B次元官网网址淚t means everything to me,B次元官网网址� he said.
It means everything because of the journey that essentially began Feb. 12, 2014 B次元官网网址� the day after an overwrought, frenzied trip to the Sochi Games ended in a fourth-place finish that left many people, including White himself, wondering if he wanted to do this anymore.
He decided B次元官网网址榊es,B次元官网网址� and changed up everything B次元官网网址� coach, sponsors, PR. He put his guitar-playing career on hold at around the time one of the band members sued him for sexual harassment (The suit has since been settled, and when asked about it Wednesday night, he called it B次元官网网址済ossipB次元官网网址� and said B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 proud of who I am.B次元官网网址�) and tried to rediscover a love for his sport that had gone lacking.
He found it, and was revving up the tricks to get him back to the top, when he bashed his face on the side of the halfpipe during a training run in New Zealand . He still has stitches in his tongue from the accident.
B次元官网网址淗e ripped his face in half, more or less, and you can still see the scars,B次元官网网址� said WhiteB次元官网网址檚 coach, JJ Thomas. B次元官网网址淎nd I donB次元官网网址檛 know if anyone else in this world has the mental strength to overcome that fear and lay it down on the world stage.B次元官网网址�
The debate is now on about where White, now 31, stands in the pantheon of Olympic stars, or sports stars in general.
Even with the tantalizing prospect of him heading to the Summer side for skateboardingB次元官网网址檚 debut in 2020 , then possibly returning to Winter in 2022, heB次元官网网址檒l never match the nine gold medals Usain Bolt collected, the 28 overall amassed by Michael Phelps or the 13 that cross-country skier Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway has won.
Then again, White only gets one event in which to shine. And he puts his life on the line every time he steps into the arena.
B次元官网网址淎s an athlete, to see a human being accomplish everything thatB次元官网网址檚 expected of him, itB次元官网网址檚 insane,B次元官网网址� said Jake Burton, the snowboard maker and one of the sportB次元官网网址檚 founding fathers.
Nobody has been harder on himself over the years than White. But after headlining a day on the halfpipe that wonB次元官网网址檛 soon be forgotten, he was in no mood to argue.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really proud of myself, which is something I never say,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his meant the world to me.B次元官网网址�
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